An Unexpected Tangent

Not long ago Jeff took a biochar stove-building workshop from Art Donnelly, theSeattle-based biochar guru who has extended his biochar shenanigans to Costa Rica.  

Biochar stoves are a way to reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere while building soil fertility. Children of coffee workers grow up healthier because the stove is not smoky. The idea came from the ancient farming practices of the Amazonian rain forest natives. I saw a YouTube video about a guy who adapted the idea to run his farm truck.

We recently learned that he is currently in Costa Rica preparing to put on a workshop instructing locals how to build massive biochar stoves using 55 gallon barrels. He calls them "carboneras".

When Art told us he needs help preparing for the workshop, we turned our travels toward the Carribbean coast of Costa Rica.  

People tell us that the Carribbean coast is the "other" Costa Rica.  We're in a bus now, curious about what will unfold next - and about where we might spend the night tonight.

Some random pictures of the plants and animals of the area.

Tiny frogs hide in the leaves.

Coatimundi is a road side beggar . 

Cartoon movie on the bus.

Jefe & young friend watching cartoon movie on the bus.

Eye-catcher.

This species actually swims, drinks, and tans AT THE SAME TIME.

It's exhausting being a gator.

Unreal color scheme.

Let's play leap frog!

Blue w, orange chassis

Another eco-idea. Plastic bottle butterfly retainer door.

In the Jungle

From the tilapia farm we bounced back to the dense, wild Costa Rican jungle. El Castillo style.  And yes, we felt oddly at home in the drizzly, foggy, overgrown jungle.    A nice place to visit, but . . .

We stayed two nights at Essence Arenal (sort of a hostel). We bunked in a tent cabin overlooking a lush jungle canopy where brightly colored, often raucous birds darted about.  We saw several toucans, innumerable parrots and Oropendolas, and ever so many bright tanagers and other fantastic birds.  

In the evenings a veritable symphony ensued, with such profound musical participants as  howler monkeys, bats, coyotes, frogs, various night birds and a myriad of singing insects.  

And all this was topped off by a light show put on by Tinkerbell and all her little lightning bug clones framed by our large tent window dancing in the jungle darkness. 

Oropendolas live in colonies. They weave a nest that hangs about 4 feet long.

Leaf cutter ants are the farmer's worst enemy.

Bird watchers have good cameras and ride in nice busses.

These nests are very common around the east end of the lake.

The viewpoint hike up Volcan Arenal. Lucky we chose this side for our hike, on the other side one of our acquaintances hiked in the rain until after dark by the light of his cell phone and the mud was a foot deep.

So charming we hiked down to it.

Arenal sheds her cloud.  As blue as it got.

Jungle Jeff.

Another prehistoric looking plant.

The tree is dead but the bromeliads live on.

The bromeliads are a key jungle species. Frogs have their metamorphosis in the pool of water they catch.

He's fast. He's green.

Getting ready for a dip.

Close up of Oropendola colony.

Little brown Myotis bats.

Proud organic pioneer at Essence Arenal farm.

Tomatoes on the jungle hillside.

Reminders.

Remember those trees in Avatar?

From Tourist-ville to Paradise

The visit to La Fortuna at the foot of the Arenal Volcano included a barrage of tourists from all over the world swarming in and out of shops, restaurants, hotels and tour agencies . . .

And we felt a bit uncomfortable being part of the storm.  So we took out a map and planned our escape.  

Tilaran, a small pueblo at the west end of Lake Arenal and El Castillo at the east end stood out as possible destinations, but to make it happen we opted to rent a car for 3 days.  

Yeehaw!! We got to play like real tourists for a change.  So off we went in our gutless Hyundai to walk the jungle trail at Hanging Bridges, on the way to Tilaran.

While there, in the middle of a hilly jungle, at one point it sounded like a pack of angry Rottweilers was headed straight for us.  A nearby group of American hikers reassured us that it was a troop of Howler monkeys discussing the purpose of life with another troop.  Could've fooled me!!  Sorry, no pictures of the monkeys this time.  They were too fast and elusive for us.

We ended up hanging out with the Americans for the rest of the day and evening - and even part of the next day.  One of the men had just sold his tilapia farm near Tilaran and is returning to live in the U.S. to take care of personal business.  

The next day he graciously spent hours with us touring his property - and my goodness, what a dream property it is: over 8 acres consisting of 9 fish ponds, each flowing into the next, citrus trees, wild orchids, coconut palms, coffee bushes, various native fruit trees, pineapple plants, several homes and other buildings, and so on and so on - all beautifully maintained.

But we had to remind ourselves the property had already been sold - almost.  

Nevertheless, the day reminded us to keep our hearts open to possibilities.  Hope lives on.

Have the hot springs resorts around La Fortuna gone too far? Well, er... yes.

Starr is anticipating the best Mexican Tortilla avocado soup she has ever eaten. It's almost here.

Lost in the moment. The subtle beauty of the jungle captures your soul.

Another kind of light shade.

We thought these looked prehistoric. 

Forest primeval is still here. Only 3% remains of what was.

14 suspension bridges get you right into the canopy of a square mile of old growth jungle.

Here a bridge, there a bridge.

Everywhere a Jefe bridge.

Starr relates to the wild. And the wild relates back.

Clear cool water in the warm jungle. How does that work?

Plants love living in the jungle. 

Concrete grids help humans stay upright on slippery trails.

Every houseplant you've ever seen started out here.

This guy liked rock so much he built a discotheque out of it.

Learning from other Americans who blazed the trail before us. We are grateful

A beautifully functional tilapia pond system near Lake Arenal.

Roy shows us his place.

This is the Paradise picture you've been waiting for.

So much to learn.

A happy day for us.

Lake Arenal is a reservoir, generating over 40% of the country's electricity.

Cafe y Macadamia is awesome. Curry chicken with a Costa Rican touch.

This is the best cup of coffee we have ever had. We're from Seattle, so that's saying a lot. 

Macadamia shells form the surface of the dining patio.